First Duma

history of Duma

...28, 1912–March 11, 1917). They rarely enjoyed the confidence or the cooperation of the ministers or the emperor, who retained the right to rule by decree when the Duma was not in session. The first two Dumas were elected indirectly (except in five large cities) by a system that gave undue representation to the peasantry, which the government expected to be conservative. The Dumas were,...

...the capital, were paralyzed, and Witte, who had just concluded peace negotiations with the Japanese, recommended that the government yield to the demands of the liberals and create an elected legislative assembly. This the tsar reluctantly consented to do, in the manifesto of October 17 (October 30, New Style), 1905. It did not end the unrest, however. In a number of towns, armed bands of...